Tiny "hairy" materials grow at the microscale

These tiny "hairs" assemble themselves almost instantly when scientists apply an alternating electrical current. The entire field of view is smaller than the thickness of a credit card. Argonne National Laboratory scientists Alexey Snezhko and Igor Aronson developed this technique, which can grow all kinds of shapes with different tweaks. The "hairy" materials could be useful in next-generation energy technologies, like new and better kinds of batteries.